Chicken Salad with Grapes

Charlie's Famous Chicken Salad with Grapes

Source: Food.com

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups diced cooked chicken
• 1 cup finely chopped celery
• 1 cup seedless grapes, halved
• 1 cup chopped walnuts or 1 cup pecans (optional)
• 1 small minced onion
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup Miracle Whip

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients; chill.
2. Serve with just about anything- crackers, chips, rolls, bread or bagel.

Creamy Basil Spinach Soup

No-Cream Creamy Basil Spinach Soup
Source: Mel's kitchen Cafe

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1 large or 2 medium leeks, green parts trimmed and discarded, white parts washed well and chopped
• 2 medium zucchini, ends trimmed, and chopped (about 4 cups total)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 2 cups low-sodium chicken stock
• 2 tablespoons fresh basil
• 2-3 cups fresh spinach, coarsely chopped
• 1-2 cups cooked chicken

1. In a saucepan, heat the olive oil and add the garlic, leeks and zucchini. Stir in the salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, 3-4 minutes, until the leeks have softened. Add 1 cup of the broth, cover and cook, stirring every once in a while, until the zucchini is falling apart and very tender, 8-10 minutes.
2. Transfer the mixture to a blender and add the basil. Carefully blend (in batches if needed). Pour the soup back into the pot. Stir in the remaining 1 cup of chicken broth. Stir in the chopped spinach and cooked chicken and cook until heated through, 4-5 minutes.

* I double this recipe

Southwestern Stuffed Spaghetti Squash

Southwestern Stuffed Spaghetti Squash

Recipe found here: Comfort of  Cooking

1 medium spaghetti squash

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1/2 red onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 jalapeno pepper, minced (leave seeds in for more heat)

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1/2 Tablespoon ground cumin

1/2 Tablespoon oregano

1/2 Tablespoon chili powder

Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper

1 (15 oz.) can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup frozen corn, thawed

1/2 cup freshly torn cilantro, plus more for garnish

Juice of 1 lime

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Place whole squash on a baking sheet and roast for 50 minutes. Let cool another 30 minutes, then cut in half (a serrated knife is best for this). Spoon out the seeds and discard, then scrape up the spaghetti squash flesh with a fork, creating the “spaghetti.”

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high. Add onion, garlic, jalapeno and red bell pepper. Sauté 2 minutes. Stir in cumin, oregano, chili powder, and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Sauté 1 more minute. Stir in beans, corn, half of cilantro and lime juice until well combined. Add the “spaghetti” from each squash to the vegetable mixture and stir to combine. Taste and season as desired.

Set oven to broil. Stuff each squash half with the squash-vegetable mixture and top with grated cheddar. Broil until cheese melts and gets brown and bubbly, 1-2 minutes.

Sprinkle with remaining cilantro and serve warm.

Enjoy!

Stir Fry

This is the recipe we have been using for Stir fry lately.  We usually add peppers and/or carrots.

Original Recipe here: Natasha's kitchen

Chicken Broccoli and Mushroom Stir Fry

• 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into ¾" pieces
• ¼ cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup chicken broth/stock
• ¼ cup honey
• ¼ cup soy sauce
• ½ Tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and grated 
• 2 medium garlic cloves, grated
• 2 tsp sesame oil, optional but recommended
• 2 Tbsp olive oil, divided
• 1¼ lb broccoli (about 6 cups broccoli florets)
• 1 small onion, sliced
• ¾ lb (12 oz) white button mushrooms, sliced

Instructions

1. Trim chicken breast of any excess fat and pat dry with paper towels. In a medium bowl, toss chicken breast with ¼ cup flour until evenly coated. Remove chicken to a plate (leave remaining flour in the bowl - you'll use it for the sauce)
2. To make the sauce: in the bowl with remaining flour, add 1 cup chicken stock, ¼ cup honey, ¼ cup soy sauce, ½ Tbsp grated ginger, 2 cloves grated garlic and 2 tsp sesame oil (if using) and stir until smooth. Set aside.
3. Heat a wok or large heavy-bottomed skillet on medium high heat and add 1 Tbsp olive oil. Once oil is hot, add chicken pieces and spread out evenly. Let chicken sit for a minute before stirring, then stir fry 5 minutes or until browned. Remove chicken from heat and set aside.
4. Add another 1 Tbsp of oil to the pan. Once oil is hot, add small broccoli florets, onions and sliced mushrooms to the pan and stir-fry 4 minutes, or until mushrooms are softened and broccoli is crisp-tender.
5. Stir the sauce again then pour it your hot vegetables. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Simmer 2 minutes or until sauce is thickened then toss in chicken and cook another 30 seconds or until heated through. Season to taste with salt if needed and serve over hot rice.

Enchilada Sauce

Enchilada Sauce

1/4 cup vegetable oil 2 tablespoons self-rising flour 2 Tbsp. chili powder 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce 1 1/2 cups water 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder 1/4 teaspoon onion salt salt to taste

1.	Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in flour and chili powder, reduce heat to medium, and cook until lightly brown, stirring constantly to prevent burning flour.
2.	Gradually stir in tomato sauce, water, cumin, garlic powder, and onion salt into the flour and chili powder until smooth, and continue cooking over medium heat approximately 10 minutes, or until thickened slightly. Season to taste with salt.

Slow Cooker Quinoa Enchiladas

sLOW cOOKER eNCHILADA qUINOA

Adapted from this recipe by Creme de la Crumb

INGREDIENTS

2 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed

2 15-ounce can yellow corn, drained and rinsed
1 15-ounce can of diced tomatoes 

1/4 cup flour1/4 cup chili powder2 (8 ounce) cans tomato sauce3 cups water1/2 teaspoon ground cumin1/2 teaspoon garlic powder1/2 teaspoon onion salt

2 cups un-cooked quinoa + 1 cup water

salt and pepper to taste (I used about 2 teaspoons salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper)

2 cups shredded Mexican style cheese

optional: chopped cilantro, diced tomatoes, diced avocado, sour cream

INSTRUCTIONS

Add beans, corn, half the enchilada sauce, diced tomatoes, quinoa, water, and salt and pepper to the slow cooker. Stir everything together.

Pour remaining enchilada sauce on top, then sprinkle with shredded cheese. Cover and cook 4-5 hours on high or 5-7 hours on low.

Uncover, top with tomatoes, avocados, sour cream, and chopped cilantro and serve.

NOTES

*For added flavor, I like to add 2 teaspoons each cumin and garlic powder.

*You can use 4 cans of enchilada sauce rather than adding the flour, chili powder, tomato sauce, water, cumin, garlic powder, and onion salt. You still need 1 cup of water for the quinoa.

*I usually use frozen corn, rather than canned.

*We like to serve this as taco filling in tortillas.

"Green Enchiladas" (Cali's Chicken Burritos)

My kids call this meal "Green Enchiladas" even though it is clearly more like a smothered burrito. This is probably the most requested meal at our house. 

Cali's Chicken Burritos

{Santa Fe lime rice}

1 cup rice, either long grain or basmati

2 cups chicken broth

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp garlic powder

juice of 1/2 lime

2 TBSP butter

1/4 tsp cumin

1/3 cup cilantro

Melt butter in a pot & add all seasonings & cilantro. Add rice & cook over

medium heat for 2 minutes stirring constantly. Add stock & lime juice return to 

simmer, turn to heat to low. Cover & cook about 30 minutes. Set aside.

{chicken}

1 rotisserie chicken, shredded

{sauce} *I double the sauce*

1 cup salsa verde

1 package buttermilk ranch

1/3 cup cilantro

1/3 cup sour cream

1/3 cup mayo

1 tsp minced garlic

1/2 tsp coarse salt

1 Tbls fresh lime juice

1/4 tsp cumin

1/4 cup sugar

Put in a blender and blend away

( I usually do one and a half of this for the six burritos. 

I love the sauce so I like more of it then the recipe calls for.)

{Burritos}

6 burrito size tortillas

shredded cheese

1- 15 oz can black beans, drained

rice, recipe above

I put the chicken, rice, beans and cheese in the tortillas. Wrap them up,cover 

them with sauce,and then put them in the oven on 350 for 30 min covered with 

tin foil, then I take the tin foil off sprinkle more cheese on top and then cook 

them for another 10 minutes.

Top with pico, avocado, & sour cream.

** I double the sauce and pour a little bit into each burrito.

**This filling is also good in quesadillas.